• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE4154

Coleman, Ruth Nancy

(1931 – 2008)
  • Born 27 September 1931, Collie, Western Australia, Australia
  • Died 27 March 2008, Bassendean Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  • Occupation Media executive, Parliamentarian

Summary

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Ruth Coleman was elected as a Senator for Western Australia in the Senate of the Parliament of Australia, in 1974. She was one of only five women in the federal parliament at that time. On her retirement in 1987, there was some improvement in the numbers of women in the parliament; seventeen in the Senate and eight in the House of Representatives. A member of the Left wing of the Labor Party and a feminist, Ruth Coleman actively campaigned against uranium mining and fought to improve the position of women in Australian society.

Archival resources

  • National Library of Australia
    • [Biographical cuttings on Ruth Coleman, former Senator, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]
  • State Library of Western Australia
    • People for Nuclear Disarmament, WA, records, 1981-2004 [manuscript]
    • [People for Nuclear Disarmament : collection of ephemera material]

Published resources

Related entries


  • Related Concepts
    • Women in Politics: Australian Labor Party